"F. Scott Fitzgerald was a fan of new technology," said Baz Luhrmann at CinemaCon on April 16, where footage from his May 10 release was shown. The director utilized the new Red Epic cameras and 3Ality 3D camera rigs to give Gatsby some stereoscopic depth.

Inspired by Alfred Hitchcock's Dial M for Murder -- specifically, the intimate proximity of the actors -- Luhrmann was convinced that, for his story of emotional isolation, 3D would let him place a distance between people in a frame that can't be done in 2D. The actors became his "special effect."